alaska dog works. dog training alaska

A lot can be said about the ebb and flow of life. Some believe in fate and some believe in destiny. Some think we have a higher purpose while others say that everything is already planned. There is a huge debate still raging about natural selection and evolution and Creationism. I don’t ride the fence on to many things and many that know me will tell you that I have strong opinions and sometimes, if not very often I speak before I think and that has gotten me in my fair share of trouble.

But once thing that is certain, in October of 1999 I met the person that changed my life forever. I can’t help but think of a sappy county song, ironically named after a guy named Ronnie Milsap. The song is titled: What a Difference You’ve Made in My Life. You may have heard the song, so lets hear it in our heads–here we go:

What – a – difference you’ve made in my life

What a difference you’ve made in my life

You’re my sunshine day-ay and ni-ght

Oh what a difference you’ve ma-a-ade in my li-iiife

Now before I go any further I need to make one thing perfectly clear. I am not a county fan. Far from it. I am hard rock all the way and as you know by now, my rabid reader, I was a pretty good guitarist (if I do say so myself) sowing my oats in the uber-grunge scene of the Pacific Northwest while attending college in Portland, Oregon. My heaviest influences are KISS, Metallica, Alice in Chains and a little band you may have never heard of called Rainmaker, oh wait, that was the name of my band (sorry). But on the other hand I am a purveyor of music. All genre from Classical (thanks Grandpa for all those tapes when I was eight) to Gansta Rap artist like Easy-E and Ice-T before he became a movie star. I was listening to Snoop when he was eating chicken and waffles and rockin’ to Run-D-MC when they collaborated with Aerosmith.

I digress. Back to Ronnie and Michele. When I met Michele in 1999 I was in Minnesota and all of my wild oats have been sowed up by the best farmer in the world. I enjoyed sky diving, day trading stocks, running a rag-tag pack of Siberians on the snowmobile trails in the middle of the night, mountain biking and playing rock shows in some of the craziest bars and clubs in the underground scene.

We met ironically thru a fascination of dogs in of all places a AOL chat room. Back in the day everyone was hooking up on chats and if you are old enough to remember you probably did do. Not knowing who I was talking to and fearing that the “girl” could have been a “guy” on the other end of cyberspace I insisted she call me. We soon were talking hours at a time on the phone and soon I made plans to meet.

Well the rest is history… not quite. In the last eleven years a lot has changed in my life and in Michele’s and the kids’ lives as well. We have come full circle. I am running dogs again, I am talking on the phone again for long periods of time to my sweetie (often nibbling on a hunk of cheese, I don’t know why but I love cheese) as she is in Colorado keeping our business, Denver Dog Works, running smoothly. We still chat on the computer and I still use the same “screen name” that I used all those years. I was one of the first ones to have a Yahoo email address and I still use it today although now it is mostly filled with spam from every solicitor from Nigeria to Timbuktu.

Michele and I have grown up now. We are both in our late 30’s and the kids are teens. We have done plenty together and plan to do much more. I hope to have those guys here next summer so we can resume our lives together, splitting our time in Alaska and Colorado.

As a canine behaviorist at Alaska Dog Works I see a lot of dog problems. I deal primarily with canine aggression and nothing can be more frightening than a dog that is possessive. I had a client whose dog was so aggressive if disrupted their entire family’s lifestyle.

The client approached me about two years ago and to this day I will never in my life forget this case: The family consisted of two adult females, two pre-teen girls and two Shiba Inus. One of the Shibas was great but the other was Cujo from You-Know-Where. This Shiba, lets call him Max was so food aggressive that the family literally had to run upstairs and close the door while he ate. When feeding time came around the family set in motion one of the most elaborate and scary displays I have ever seen.

First they would lock the dogs in the laundry room and one of the adults would prepare the food while Max became more agitated and began to bite and attack the other dog. Once the food was prepared the lady would open the laundry room door with a string attached to the handle and hold a broom to ward off Max. Max would run at the lady full blast with its teeth barring while she fought off the dog with the broom as she fled upstairs with the rest of the family.

Max did not return to the bowl to eat, instead he would run around the house like the Tasmanian Devil and proceed to tear up anything he could; couch pillows, shoes, chair legs, everything, within minutes.

Max eventually went over to his bowl and ate his food and would calm down. This whole ritual would take about a half an hour. I observed the incident from the deck through the sliding glass doors. I can honestly say that I have never seen a dog more dangerous in my life. Before the feeding exercise Max appeared to be the perfect family pet laying at our feet while we talked and complied a history for the evaluation.

I never heard back from that family and I attempted calling them back several times to no avail.

Possessiveness

Protecting valued assets is an important part of survival in the wild. While I agree that Canis Familiaris (the family dog) is far from being a “wild” animal they are still intrinsically wired that way deep inside their brains. In the wild, a dog that does not protect its valued assets is more likely to starve to death than one that does. Since possessiveness is normal behavior the owner should not punish the dog for it, instead we need to train the dog to think that good things happen when they give their valuables to us humans.

Some simple exercises to work on possessiveness are (not to be used with the example with a dog like Max, but maybe a dog that wont give up his ball, or looks at you “funny” when you take his bone, etc.):

1. Allow the dog to greet guests only when he is sitting. This is one of the tests in the AKC CGC Test, Accepting a Friendly Stranger.

2. Teach the dog “Give it or Drop it” and “Take it.”

3. Teach food bowl exercises (except with a dog like Max, of course) where you can take up the food bowl while your dog sits, you can put your hand in the bowl while he eats, etc.

If you have any questions on canine training or behavior, please give us a call at Alaska Dog Works at 907-841-1686

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Robert Forto is the host of The Dog Works Radio Show and is the training director of Alaska Dog Works. Robert Forto can be reached through his website at www.alaskadogworks.com

Over the past several weeks I have posted articles on those individuals that contributed to the dog training world in one way or another and shaped this industry into what it is today. While there are many different “styles” of dog training, much of the principles and techniques can be traced back to these individuals. I would love to hear who you think are influential in the world of dog training. You can contact me by leaving an comment below or sending an email to live@dogdoctorradio.com

Dunbar and Pryor

In the mid to late 1980’s dog trainers began to move away from training procedures that were based primarily on negative reinforcement and punishment methods. Positive reinforcement became the centerpiece of many training philosophies. Dr. Ian Dunbar, a veterinarian, and animal behaviorist, was vividly aware that many people were uncomfortable, and even dead set against, the use of aversive corrections. In response, Dunbar developed a positive motivational training procedure that revolved around the use of food rewards; “Treat Training” had arrived. Dunbar was also instrumental in the formation of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (A.D.PT.) in 1997.

Karen Pryor’s contributions to the dog-training world could very well fill an entire book, and a large one at that! Pryor is a scientist, animal trainer, seminar leader, and writer that bridged the chasm between scientific conditioning principles and mainstream application with real world situations that the average person could identify with.

In her 1984 best-selling book, Don’t Shoot the Dog, she explained the principles of operant conditioning that she had learned while working with marine animals in a language that the average pet owner could understand, and more importantly, apply. Her seminars showed how these same principles could provide a training method that was more friendly and positive. Pryor’s “Clicker Game” was a stroke of genius in conveying the concept of a secondary, or conditioned reinforcer to trainers and pet owners alike.

Trainers for decades have understood that there is more to training canines than a set of procedures, or simple applications of principles, no matter how sound. A trainer must be patient, and an astute observer of the canine’s body language. The best trainers all have one thing in common, they know how to read the dog.

Effective trainers understand the entire dog. It cannot be denied that learning theory is important or that behaviors can be increased or decreased with reinforcement or punishment. However, breed or species differences and genetics are an often overlooked part of the equation that determines how well a canine is trained. A Labrador or Golden Retriever would be a much better choice than an English Bulldog for work where picking up items is important. Understanding the breed goes a long way in determining the training procedure.

Clarence Pfaffenberger was responsible for screening and evaluating canines for the Guide Dogs for the Blind and Dogs for Defense organizations. In 1963, he published The New Knowledge of Dog Behavior, a work that underscored the importance of genetic knowledge when breeding canines for specific uses. Pfaffenberger developed some of the earliest behavior and temperament tests.

Dr. John Paul Scott and his colleague Dr. John Fuller have spent in excess of twenty-years doing research on canines. Their work focuses on the role that heredity assumes in the development of canine behavior.

Scott and Fuller published Genetics and the Social Behaviors of the Dog, which is considered by many to be the Rosetta Stone of canine behavior. They are also credited with the discovery, and identification of the critical socialization periods of puppies. Their research showed what many trainers have always suspected; there are significant differences between breeds when it comes to motivational characteristics and a lot of those are related to breeding practices.

In relation to breeding in dog sledding, Dr. Arleigh Reynolds is a balancing act of action, access and admiration. Many people want access to Reynolds. Dr. Reynolds is a canine exercise physiologist and nutritionist and he is lucky enough to mix his love of sled dogs, research, and teaching into a job that he adores. Reynolds is one of the most renowned mushing researchers in the field. He holds a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and a Ph.D. from Cornell University. He is also a breeder of some of the best sled dogs in the sport. Reynolds is a line-breeder. Line-breeding procreates pups using the same or closely related ancestors on both sides of the pedigree. The purpose is to foster dogs that are increasingly similar in size, temperament and uniformity, which is important because a higher percent make the team.

Clarence Pfaffenberger worked closely with Scott and Fuller, and was given credit for his “real-world” testing of Scott and Fuller’s laboratory generated theories. Dogs breeding for the sport of mushing is very similar to the work of these researchers.

After almost six months of traveling across North America, searching out suitable properties in Minnesota (twice), California and Alaska, we have settled on the Alaska property. While we would have loved to stay here in the Lower-48 states, it was just not possible. The Minnesota kennels were either too expensive or the county would not allow us to have a sled dog kennel. The California property was very nice but you had to drive well over an hour to run dogs and it was just too hot!

The Willow property is not a mansion by any stretch of imagination. It is a true musher’s property but it does have running water, electricity and full speed internet. There is an outhouse on the four acres “just in case”.

It is every mushers dream of finding a place in Alaska, and many of us have hopes of running the Iditarod one day. Team Ineka is one step closer now with the purchase of this property.

There are many things that are appealing about this place but a couple to note are: 1. dogs are allowed and we will not need special permission from the county or our neighbors. In fact there are several mushers in the neighborhood. 2. There are already kennel runs on the property. They need repair but they are there. 3. You can run dogs right from your property. I can literally hook up my team and go with a trail-head leading right up to the kennel.

Our goal is to spend six months a year in Alaska and six months in Colorado. We will maintain our business, Denver Dog Works here and it will remain fully operational with our third partner taking over the day to day tasks in about a year. We love Colorado but this is a place that we could not pass up.

My goal is to run the Iditarod in 2013. I will begin building my team immediately after my arrival in Alaska and start to run races starting this winter. By 2012 I will be running my qualifiers for the Iditarod and enter the race the following year.

While I have thought about this dream since the day I purchased my first Siberian Husky in the fall of 1987, it will take a tremendous amount of work to make this dream a reality but this is the first step to make it happen.